Summary
Apple Inc.'s Q3 2016 earnings report (filed July 2016) indicates a challenging quarter with a notable 15% year-over-year decline in net sales, primarily attributed to decreased iPhone unit sales and a lower average selling price. Despite the overall revenue dip, the Services segment demonstrated robust growth of 19%. The company also saw a decrease in gross margin to 38.0% from 39.7% in the prior year's comparable quarter, influenced by foreign currency fluctuations and unfavorable leverage on fixed costs. However, Apple continued its aggressive capital return program. During the quarter, the company repurchased $10.0 billion of its common stock and paid $3.2 billion in dividends. The company also strengthened its balance sheet by issuing $1.4 billion in U.S. dollar-denominated and A$1.4 billion in Australian dollar-denominated long-term debt. Despite the revenue headwinds, Apple maintained a strong cash position and reiterated its commitment to R&D, with expenses increasing to support new product development.
Financial Highlights
57 data points| Revenue | $42.36B |
| Cost of Revenue | $26.25B |
| Gross Profit | $16.11B |
| R&D Expenses | $2.56B |
| SG&A Expenses | $3.44B |
| Operating Expenses | $6.00B |
| Operating Income | $10.11B |
| Interest Expense | $409.00M |
| Net Income | $7.80B |
| EPS (Basic) | $0.36 |
| EPS (Diluted) | $0.35 |
| Shares Outstanding (Basic) | 21.77B |
| Shares Outstanding (Diluted) | 21.89B |
Key Highlights
- 1Net sales decreased by 15% year-over-year to $42.4 billion, primarily due to a 23% decline in iPhone sales.
- 2Services revenue grew by 19% to $6.0 billion, showing a strong performance offsetting hardware sales declines.
- 3Gross margin declined to 38.0% from 39.7% in the prior year's quarter, impacted by currency effects and fixed cost leverage.
- 4Research and Development expenses increased significantly by 26% year-over-year to $2.6 billion, reflecting continued investment in innovation.
- 5Apple returned $13.2 billion to shareholders in Q3 2016 through $10.0 billion in share repurchases and $3.2 billion in dividends.
- 6Greater China sales experienced a significant decline of 33%, highlighting market challenges in that region.